Tow target exchange device



Feb. 17, 1948. M PYLE TOW TRGT EXCHANGE DEVICE Filed OCT.. 25, 1944INVENTOR. /VQI//N /DVLE Patented Feb. 17,1948 'il Y.

UNITED STATES 'row TARGET E'XCHANGEl DEvIcE Marvin L. Pyle, Los Angeles;'Califf Application octet-er 251944', serialfNof.: 561x295" Y 1 cina;(cine- 1055351 (Granted under nie-- act of Maren 3; lists-ias amendedApril 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) The invention described herein may bemanufactured and used by or for Government for governmental purposes,without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to aerial tow targets and more particularly todevices for exchanging targets at the end of a tow line while anairplane is in flight.

The usual tow target exchange device comprises a mechanism adapted to betowed by an airplane at the end of a tow line, the mechanism beingadapted to releasably secure an air lled sleeve after it has been hit byanti-aircraft fire and substitute a new sleeve therefor, as described inthe United States Patent to Foulk N0. 1,971,340 granted August 28, 1934.The new sleeve is attached to the tow line at the airplane end thereofby means of a, slip ring adapted to slidably encompass the line, thesleeve then being slid along the tow line to the exchange device byvirtue of the forward flight of the plane. Upon the arrival of the slipring at the end of the tow line it engages the exchange device,actuating a detent mechanism therein to release the hit target sleevewhich is thus dropped to the ground, the new target sleeve then movinginto position whereat the slip ring thereof is arrested by the detentmechanism, and is in position to be iired upon. As illustrated in Fig. 1of the drawing, one of the drawbacks of present target exchange devicesresides in the fact that at the point of attachment between the tow lineand the exchange device a certain amount of angularity exists .betweenthe tow line and the forward portion of the device due to swerving ofthe airplane and changing wind conditions acting on the tow line and thetarget. As a result of this angular relation the slip ring of the newtarget sleeve cannot slide smoothly from the tow line to the exchangedevice and at the point of attachment therebetween, which is the vertexof the angle, the slip ring brings a shock force to bear which is attimes sufficient to cut the tow line at this point, the exchangemechanism and the sleeve being thus lost. The principal object of myinvention is to overcome this diculty and, accordingly, I provide atarget exchange device comprising a universal joint incorporated thereinbetween the front portion thereof, l. e., the nose piece, which isattached to the tow line, and the detent mechanism. Such a structureprovides for a substantially straight path between the tow line and thenose piece of the exchange device so that the slip ring hassubstantially passed beyond the tow line before it can bring any shockforce to bear, the shock force 2 then being taken by the body of thedevice which is substantially stronger in shear than the tow line andunlikely to be cut by the slip ring.

A detailed disclosure of my invention now follows with reference to theappended drawing in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a conventional tow target exchange device for thepurpose of clearly demonstrating the distinction in operation between myinvention and prior device;

Fig. 2 illustrates a general view of the improved tow target exchangedevice; and

Fig. 3 illustrates the invention in operation.

With reference to Fig. 2, there is disclosed a tow target exchangedevice having a body comprising a nose piece I adapted to be attached toa tow line (not shown) and articulated to an elongated housing elementof a detent mechanism, generally indicated by A, through a conventionaluniversal ball and socket joint structure comprising a ball 3 and theuniversally movable sockets or retaining members 5 and 6 secured to nosepiece I and the mechanism portion of the body, respectively, the saidarticulated body being of substantially cylindrical shape to permitunobstructed passage of an exchange target from the nose piece and overthe ball and socket joint to the detent mechanism of the housing elementwhen the nose piece and the housing element are aligned. The detentmechanism is of conventional form and comprises a trigger 8 cooperatingwith a catch or detent lever 9 and a leaf spring iIl. The structure andthe operation of the mechanism is substantially the same as thatdescribed in the aforementioned United States Patent to Foulk No,1,971,340, the operation being dependent upon engagement of a slip ringIl of a new target sleeve (not shown) with the trigger 8 therebyAactuating the lever 9 against the bias of spring I0, the hook I2 onlever `9 releasing the slip ring I3 of the hit target sleeve (not shown)which is carried off by the air current and drops to the ground.

In flight, as shown in Fig. 3, a tow line I5 being attached to nosepiece I and being pulled in the -direction of the arrow, the tow line I5assumes a substantially straight line with respect to the nose piece Idue to the universal joint provided between the nose piece I and thedetent mechanism A. Accordingly, a slip ring I'I of a substitute targetsleeve I8 will have substantially a straightpath in passing from the towline I5 to and over the nose piece I, the shock due to angularitybetween the tow line and the release mechanism A being taken along thebody of the 3 device, and loss of the device due to cutting of the towline being thereby eliminated.

Having thus described my invention and the manner in which it overcomesdisadvantages of prior constructions, I claim:

A tow target exchange device comprising a body including a nose pieceadapted to be attached to a tow line and an elongated housing elementhaving therein a. detent mechanism adapted to releasably secure a towtarget. and a universal joint comprising a retaining member secured tosaid nose piece and a second retaining member secured to said housingelement and a spherical member retained between said retaining memberswhereby said body is pivotally articulated intermediate said nose pieceand said housing element for the purpose of providing a straight pathfor movement of an exchange target between said tow line and said nosepiece, said body being of substantially cylindrical shape to permitunobstructed passage of the exchange target from the nose piece to thedetent mechanism of the housing element when said nose piece and housingelement are aligned.

MARVIN L. PYLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille ofthis patent: l

UNITED STATES PATENTS

